It is the final countdown before the spectacular happens. It feels inevitable, doesn’t it?
When two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani became the fastest player to stamp his membership into the 40-40 club on August 23, the pressing question was whether the he could reach 50-50 before the clock stuck midnight on the regular-season schedule.
It has been a week and a half and he has 44 homers and 46 stolen bases, after swiping three, including two back-to-back on the road, in Monday’s 11-6 victory over the division rival Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
Ohtani capped off a 12-homer, 15-stolen base August by becoming the inaugural member of MLB’s 43-43 club on Friday, but he was not done there, hitting his 44th home run on Saturday. He opened September with a mondain and forgettable 0-for-4, but had a short memory and got right back to work on Monday with a leadoff single, then walking and stealing his 44th base in the fourth.
Batting in the seventh inning with the Dodgers holding a 3-1 lead, Ohtani reached with a one-out single to right field. With a 1-0 count on Mookie Betts at the plate, Ohtani got in to scoring position by stealing second base, easily beating the throw from Diamondbacks catcher Adrian Del Castillo.
On the next pitch, he easily strolled into third without a throw when south paw Jordan Montgomery’s curveball hit the dirt.
The Diamondbacks intentionally walked Betts, and Ohtani scored on Freddie Freeman’s sacrifice fly to left, igniting a three-run inning for the Dodgers as they began to separate themselves.
It was a huge victory for the Dodgers, as they locked up the season series against the Diamondbacks and the all-important tiebreaker should the clubs finish the regular season with identical records.
“After winning the first two games but dropping the third, being able to come back to win this one is a huge win,” Ohtani said with the help of interpreter Will Ireton. “And obviously against a division rival is a big deal.”
With Ohtani needing only six home runs and four stolen bases to establish MLB’s 50-50 club, the Dodgers have 24 games remaining before the postseason gets underway, beginning Tuesday with his first regular-season game at Angel Stadium since leaving northern California and the Angels in free agency last winter.
Embed from Getty Images“I was thinking about giving him an off-day tomorrow,” manager Dave Roberts joked. “How would that go? Would that go over OK?”
Do not worry, be happy Ohtani fans. Roberts said as long as the slugger is healthy, he has no intention of sitting him down the home stretch as he goes after history, even if the Dodgers clinch the division title. Ohtani will be in his regular leadoff spot for his official Anaheim return.
“I’m sure it’s going to be somewhat emotional, but emotions are relative to the person and I think he’s going to be just fine going back there and helping us win a ballgame,” Roberts said. “There’s nothing that he’s had to deal with that he hasn’t passed with flying colors.”
